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sending slaves to the Vikings in Dublin

sending slaves to the Vikings in Dublin, Ireland

Exactly when the city was founded is unknown. The earliest relic is a silver coin in the Royal Collection at Stockholm, Sweden. The coin bears the image of Ethelred Unrede (978 – 1016) and was minted in Bricgstowe (Bristol) by a man named Aelfweld. If Bristol was important enough to have a mint by 978 it must have been in existance sometime before then.
It is fairly certain that no town existed here before 577 AD. The reason being that in 577 two Saxon kings (Cuthwine and Ceawlin) fought and killed three British kings (Commail, Condidan and Farinmail) at a village called Dyrham near Pucklechurch, just outside of the present city. Although the towns of Bath, Gloucester and Cirencester are mentioned in the account of this battle, Bristol isn’t mentioned at all, even though it would have been closer than those mentioned.
Thus, Bristol was founded sometime between 577 and 978 AD. Even by this latter date the town was known to be dealing sending slaves to the Vikings in Dublin, Ireland.
Bridges at this time were of vital importance. There are three reasons why Bristol, as a port, is situated 7 miles inland with access to ships up a very tortuous river. A bridge across the Avon nearer it’s mouth would have been technologically very difficult, the land there was very prone to flooding and the town would have been very exposed to attack. Ships would make their way up the Avon until they reached Bristol Bridge and lay beached at low tide on the mud ready to be unloaded.

Hanham Court once belonged to the monks of Keynsham Abbey.

Complete with fish ponds and dovecote, stately Hanham Court once belonged to the monks of Keynsham Abbey.


Did a long tunnel under the river, as legend has it, once connect the two?


Unfortunately for a good story there is no evidence that one ever existed.

Historians think that there must have been some kind of house here, possibly a wooden structure, as far back as late Saxon times.


The strangely named Earnulf de Hesding was named as the owner at the time of the Domesday survey.


Yet another legendary story relates how John, the last of the Keynsham abbots, pronounced a curse on the property as he was thrown out by King Henry’s henchmen during the Reformation.


Whether true or not, Henry Creswicke, who bought the court in 1638, certainly had his share of troubles.


Although this wealthy merchant had a town house in Bristol’s Small Street, the country property remained in family hands for the next 200 years.


Sir Henry, who was Bristol’s Mayor in 1660, was knighted by the newly restored monarch, King Charles II, for remaining loyal to him throughout the bitter Civil War.


Despite this honour the family were frequently in dispute with their neighbours, the Newton’s of Barr’s Court, over manorial rights and boundary issues.


The ensuing lawsuits eventually led to a bitter hatred springing up between the two families.


Things came to a head in 1685 when the Duke of Monmouth and his rebel followers, who were defying the King’s troops and moving towards Bristol, camped nearby.

Sir Francis Creswicke, quite naturally, decided to ride out and see what was happening on his land.

But after being spotted talking to the rebels by one of the Newton’s servants he was arrested and flung into Gloucester jail, somewhere he would remain for the next two years.

With his innocence finally proven (in fact by Lord Grey, one Monmouth’s men) King James II arrived to pardon him in person and share a roast deer under an oak tree by the church.


An acorn taken from that very tree, now long dead, has been planted in exactly the same spot.


In 1704 Sir Francis was in trouble again, this time for stabbing Queen Anne’s Attorney General after a quarrel, an act that put him back in prison for another nine years.


Aged 89 when he died in 1732, the old jailbird lies buried in Bitton church.


In later years the court became so heavily mortgaged that it was lost to the Crewicke’s forever.


Finally, after marrying a Keynsham publican’s daughter, the very last member of the family went off to live in Canada.


Was there a curse on the court? Who knows.


Although the west wing and stately tower are Elizabethan the gargoyles that adorn it are medieval (reclaimed) and the pointed roof added in Victorian times.


The Arts and Crafts kitchen wing was added in about 1900 but the adjoining barn, complete with massive walls and buttressed tower, date back to Norman times.


The church, however, is 15th century.


Although the court is privately owned it’s possible to visit the beautifully restored gardens when they are open to the public during the summer months.


Read more: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Footsteps-History-Hanham-Court/story-11308807-detail/story.html#ixzz3mO7CjGcy
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